CEREMONY IDEAS
Readings, Music, and More
“How falling in Love is like owning a dog” by Taylor Mali
First of all, it’s a big responsibility,
especially in a city like New York.
So think long and hard before deciding on love.
On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:
when you’re walking down the street late at night
and you have a leash on love
ain’t no one going to mess with you.
Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.
Who knows what love could do in its own defense?
On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breathes
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.
Love doesn’t like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.
It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.
Is love good all the time? No! No!
Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.
Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Somethimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper
and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain,
just to let love know Don’t you ever do that again!
Sometimes love just wants to go out for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise. It will run you around the block
and leave you panting, breathless. Pull you in different directions
at once, or wind itself around and around you
until you’re all wound up and you cannot move.
But love makes you meet people wherever you go.
People who have nothing in common but love
stop and talk to each other on the street.
Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops.
Ceremony Music Tips
One of the additional services I offer is music for your ceremony. I get a lot of couples who tell me they have no idea what music to use! Ceremonies usually consist of 3 songs - an Entrance, a song for signing, and a recessional. But don’t forget some light music for your guests to listen to as they are taking their seats! Here are some tips I give to my couples when making these decisions:
Listen to the lyrics. Its easy to fall in love with a melody, but sometimes the words aren’t so appropriate. There’s a great song out right now called “Marry Me” by Thomas Rhett that I get requests for often. Pretty song, but it talks about him drinking at the back because “Yeah, she wanna get married, but she don’t wanna marry me”. The best songs for a ceremony are about how love makes you feel about each other.
Think about timing. When it comes to a procession, a lot of couples want the bride to walk in to her own song. I actually encourage against this. The most popular wedding song last year was “Yours” by Russell Dickerson - put it on now. Consider the length of your aisle - usually 15’ to 50’. How long will it take you to walk at a slow pace? The song doesn’t hit its build up until 2:26. So your whole party could enter before you, and you can walk in at the pretty part!
Plan an extra signing song. On average a signing is under 5 minutes, but your photographer might want to slow you down for photos. Have a back up. On average a song is only 3.5-5min.
It’s not cheesy if it’s meaningful. Don’t over think things. If you have an idea that you love, do it. I had someone this year say “but everyone’s tired of that song”. So instead, you want to settle on something you don’t like? Choose what you want, not what others will like. This is your ceremony. I had a beautiful ceremony a year ago where they listed every wonderful love song you could think of, and we found a instrumental version of each to make it their own, and it was so perfect.
Music sets a tone. It reflects you, and connects us all. Let’s pick music that speaks to you
If you’re looking for inspiration, follow my AppleMusic account, <a href=“https://itunes.apple.com/profile/BCausLove”>@BCausLove</a>.
One of my favourites from this year! Dan + Shay - Speechless